Preserving the Multi‐service Concept in the Change from Entrepreneurial to Professional Management

Close inspection of many services reveals them to be multiple services (multi‐services). Many others, such as ski resorts, entertainment centres, motorway service complexes and restaurant/hotel developments, are more obviously of a multi‐service type. The inter‐relationship of the component services of a multi‐service is often closely held by the entrepreneur during the early stages of the venture, and may still be the subject of experimentation. Moving from entrepreneurial to professional management requires definition of these service inter‐relationships. Division of the concept into its components to simplify control, and the use of separate performance maximising incentives are hazardous approaches. The first objective of new control systems should be to replicate the entrepreneurial multi‐concept service. Experimentation should be left until later.